A Product Review: The GE EasyCam PC Camera H098063

I recently purchased a GE webcam, the GE EasyCam PC Camera HO98063, to be specific, and since I had not looked at the available webcams in quite some time, I was not aware of the variety on the market right now. Popularity of a product, makes the varieties from additional competitive companies, breed like rabbits, so there are many to choose from. The price range, style and features vary from one end of the scale to the other.

Previously I had been using my digital cam, which did double duty as a web cam. The problem was, it took forever each time to hook it up, set it up and get it running as a webcam, and half the time it would crash mid chat. Then I would have to spend another 15 to 30 minutes getting it running again, going through all the steps, sometimes more than once, until I was just about ready to smash the thing into little pieces in sheer frustration. I was glad to have one at all, but my digital camera got stolen, so I had neither a digital or a webcam after that, or since then, until now.

Price was definitely an issue, so obviously I wasn't going for the high end models, with extra features and better picture taking capabilities, and I had no idea what to expect from the low end ones. I figured in the few years since I had my digital camera, the technology would have improved a great deal, and hopefully the ease of use along with it, but sometimes with an improvement in features, come some real headaches in functionality for the average user, which I am.

Usually when some new gadget comes out, the variety and availability is limited, and the demand high, so the prices are fairly high until the next upgrade hits the market, or the current one has been out awhile and the prices start to drop. Think way back to calculators. When they first came out, they were hundreds of dollars, and were guarded as a prized piece of equipment, and now a perfectly good one can be found for only a few dollars. So patience is a virtue, in that case, and as I found out, it was in the current webcam world too.

I started looking at sites that also had mortar and brick stores, figuring I could go in and examine the packages more closely, after I had made some choices to check out in the stores, and perhaps even ask questions to someone in person there. At least by looking online first, I had some idea of what was out there for the average consumer, and in the process, I got to drool over some of the high end items too.

For people who want technical details, the GE EasyCam has the following features:

Sensor: CMOS with 100 pixels
Resolution: up to 352 x 288
Video frame rate: 30 frames per second
Colour depth: 24 bits, RGB true colour
Focus range: 10 cm to infinite

The cam works fine with my windows program. I've only used it with Yahoo chat, since that is where I do 95 percent of my chatting. It shows up in a little box, but can be enlarged to fill the screen, if you want that feature.

The picture is quite clear, but does need good lighting to show up well. Daylight works well, or over head light during the evening or night hours, seem to do the trick. For really a really bright picture, many places, like IKEA , where I got mine, carry inexpensive halogen desk top lamps that work very well with the GE Easy Cam.

The clearness is adjustable, with a small blue focus ring at the front of the GE Easy Cam.

A little green light, at the front, tells you it is up and running.

The base is adjustable, so the cam can be swiveled up and down, or side to side, and it comes with a six foot cord that makes it easier to move around, if necessary.

The GE Easy Cam itself, is a bit bigger than a regular egg, and it sits on a horseshoe shaped stand, which gives it a decent amount of stability.

It can record videos and pictures, although I haven't tried that feature yet.

The disc the GE Easy Cam comes with, is easily installed and does not have to be reinserted with every use. It runs on the downloaded program just fine, each time the camera is plugged in. That wasn't the case with my old one. I used to have to dig everything out to set it up. It felt like I was trying to run a production studio instead of a simple camera.

The GE Easy Cam has a GE label but is apparently made by Jasco. For the price, the function and usage can't be beat. It was 19.99, and I ended up buying it in the store at Target, although it is available on their online site too.

So far, knock on wood, I'm pleased with the GE Easy Cam. I have read the support system, for people encountering problems with the camera, is not great, but so far I haven't had to test that yet. My 10 year old daughter is able to use it too, so that tells a bit about the ease of use of the GE Easy Cam.